Laurette & Friends in Tuscany & Beyond ... Spring 2018: Leonardo's Cenacolo & More of Milan

"It's better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times."

Asian Proverb

Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan

Santa Maria delle Grazie

I'm quite certain that over the seventy years of my life I probably have heard about ... or seen photographs of ... or read about Leonardo's iconic Renaissance masterpiece, The Last Supper, at least a thousand times, so it was completely amazing to gaze upon the actual painting with my own eyes! Between 1495 and 1499, Leonard painted what would become one of history's most influential works of art, and he painted it here in Milan, in the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, part of 15th c. renovations to the church and its convent buildings by Leonardo's patron Ludovico Sforza. In the painting, Leonardo depicts his visual interpretation of the reactions (horror, anger, shock) of the twelve apostles in the moments following Jesus' announcement that one of them would soon betray him. Each figure is memorable and unique.

Our guide, lovely young Milanese, Antonia, did an excellent job explaining the history of the painting, all the deterioration and restorations it has undergone (the most recent restoration took place between 1979 - 1999), the perspective, symbolism and details of the work. The painting has struggled to stay intact over the centuries ... Antonia shared that the "bombardments of the second World War" destroyed the walls adjacent to Leonardo's work ... and the roof of the refectory; amazingly, the wall on which The Last Supper was painted did not collapse. Our small tour group was allowed 15 minutes in the refectory which went by very quickly.

Biscione - Symbol of Milan
& Alfa Romeo

After departing Santa Maria delle Grazie, Antonia led us on a very interesting 3-hour walking tour of the historic center of Milan ... down broad boulevards lined with beautifully ornamented buildings (so many lovely stone balconies, so many flowers!), past the Piazzale Cadorna (where Palmer and I will catch the Malpensa Express train on Tuesday) with its modern "Needle, Thread and Knot" sculptures, symbolizing Milan's fashion industry. We walked in and all around the Castello Sforzesco, built between 1360-1499, one of the largest citadels in Europe. In 1494, Ludovico Sforza became Lord of Milan and employed numerous artisans to decorate the castle, including Leonardo da Vinci.

Next we walked down the lovely, wide, vehicle-free Via Dante (where we had dinner last night), past the historic Postal building (which Antonia told us has been purchased by STARBUCK'S (... the first Starbuck's in Milan!), past Piazza della Scala with its famous opera house ... Piazza Leonardo ... and into the beautiful Galleria Victor Emmanuele. There she pointed out the historic Art Nouveau classic Caffe Camparini al Galleria as the best place to have coffee in Milan (we did so later that afternoon) and the floor mosaic of a bull on which people spin around three times for good luck! She also told us that the designer/architect of this gorgeous glass-ceilinged structure plunged to his death from a scaffold, in 1877, one day before the Galleria opened!

Our last stop was Piazza del Duomo and Milan's amazingly beautiful cathedral, which took nearly six centuries (1386-1965) to complete. It is the largest church in Italy (St. Peter's is larger but is located in Vatican City) and the 5th largest in the world. Capacity = 40,000! 3,400 statues, 135 gargoyles, 52 huge interior columns, one for every week of the year! Constructed all of pink-hued white marble from Candoglia near Lake Maggiore. Antonia gave us info on how to purchase tickets to ride an elevator up to the Duomo's rooftop terraces ... which we plan to do tomorrow!

Back at the apartment, I had a lovely three-hour nap (at last, a nap!!), and then headed back down to Via Dante with the Foldesi Group for yet another delicious Milanese dinner and some yummy gelato.